Thursday, May 19, 2016

Putin Admits Russian Media ‘Cooking’ the News, Zaidman Says

Paul
Goble

Staunton, May 19 – Last Friday,
Vladimir Putin not only made an amazing admission of what he and his regime
have been doing in the information sphere but also introduced an aphorism that
is likely to survive him just as Viktor Chernomyrdin’s phrase “we wanted better
but it turned out like always” has outlived him, Izrail Zaidman says.

In his message on the occasion of the
25th anniversary of the All-Russian State Television Company, the
Moscow commentator notes, Putin praised its staff for breaking “the information
monopoly” that he said “certain of our opponents” have had in the world’s media
(kasparov.ru/material.php?id=573C7E7F6537A).

The success of Russian television in
that regard, the Kremlin leader continued, has prompted Western outlets to
denounce everything pro-Moscow Russian media do as propaganda. But in a related
statement at the branch of Russian television in Sochi, Zaidman says, Putin
unwittingly admitted that such Western charges are true.

“What I especially want to note is
the following,” the Russian president said. “First, your news tapes. They
undoubtedly enjoy the great trust and interest of the people, above all because
they are true, full of content and interesting.I imagine how difficult it is to do that – to work constantly and cook
up these information blinis on the stove.”

On this point, the Moscow
commentator says, Putin “was absolutely right.” Cooking up the news on a
constant basis and “without leaving the stove “is not so simple.” But from his
perspective, it has “a colossal advantage” compared to traditional journalism: “one
can cook up any ‘information.’”

Others have done this on occasion in
the past, Zaidman continues, “but only under Putin has it achieved its real
breadth and aphoristic definition.”

“In dull democratic countries,” he
says, “one has to search for, collect and sometimes unearthing information …
but what you will find and how it will turn out for you is something you can’t
know in advance. But in authoritarian regimes, as [Putin] has explained to us,
information is cooked like blinis” by those which by inertia are still called “journalists.”

In such systems, “there are no
surprises; everything is prepared to order.” That has been obvious since the
start of the Russian aggression in Ukraine, Zaidman argues, with Russian “journalists”
constantly putting out stories that had no basis in reality but were intended
to mislead.

But Putin’s words last Friday raise
a question: why has he suddenly decided to be so open?“Is it a sign of repentance?” Unlikely given
his style.Or “perhaps it is the first
sign of senility?” – but he is still relatively young.“Most probably,” the commentator suggests, “it
is simply bravado,” the actions of “someone without any moral constraints.”

Anyone who has doubts that Putin has
made an important admission, however, need only consult the story as carried by
RBC (rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/5735d1ea9a79478a8574263e).
But one thing is obvious, Zaidman concludes, Putin has now introduced two new
terms into the Russian language –“infoblini’
and “Putin’s infoblini” – that are likely to outlive him.